Original antique lithograph showing a young Dayak boy in Borneo standing in his village, titled: (1) Poonan from N. of Long Wahou. (2-3) Human Trophies. (4) Festive Masks, published in the year 1881 in London by Carl Bock, a Norwegian government official, author, naturalist and explorer.
This 140-year-old lithograph is part of a series of 33 which are considered the first European publications showing the Dayak people, their villages, art, tattoos, weapons, family life and many more. These prints will make a great addition to any collection for those interested in Borneo.
Carl Bock made his expedition to east and south Borneo by order of Governor-General Van Lansberghe. Bock's task was to write an account of the various Dayak tribes living in the interior of the area, of whom little was known at that time. The Dayak people firmly rejected Dutch authority and back then were head-hunters, some even cannibals. Carl Bock passed through areas never before penetrated by Europeans, making this a unique find for those interested in early documentation on the natives of Borneo.
Carl Alfred Bock (1849 - 1932) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark while his parents were travelling on business. He was the son of merchant and factory owner Carl Henirich Bock. Later he studied zoology and natural sciences in London, England. Bock served for six years at the Norwegian-Swedish Foreign Consulate at the seaport of Grimsby, England before he came to London in 1875. He obtained private funding, especially from Arthur Hay, 9th Marquess of Tweeddale for a journey of discovery to Sumatra and Borneo from 1878 to 1879 under the authority of Johan Wilhelm van Lansberge, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
Bock was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (Videnskapsselskapet i Kristiania) and was a knight, first class of the Order of St. Olav. His large collection of artefacts from Thailand and Indonesia is now kept principally at the British Museum in London. A species of snake, the Atractus bocki, is named in his honour.
